Beating, cover-up at nursing center on Staten Island

Staten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinTwo workers at the Lily Pond Nursing Home in Arrochar lost their licenses after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of willfully violating public health law, said the attorney general's office. Neither can work in the health care field again, said officials.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous headline was not intended to refer to the Staten Island Care Center, which is a separate, unrelated institution in New Brighton. These incidents occurred at Lily Pond Nursing Home in Arrochar.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Putting a loved one in a nursing home can be traumatic.

Besides the emotional stress, there's concern that patients are getting the proper care and being treated with dignity and respect.

Those fears came to fruition for a developmentally disabled patient at a Staten Island nursing home, who, according to the state attorney general's office was hit on the head several times by an aide. A supervisor allegedly tried to cover up the incident.

As a result, both workers at the Lily Pond Nursing Home in Arrochar lost their licenses after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of willfully violating public health law, said the attorney general's office. Neither can work in the health care field again, said officials.

The nursing home was not cited.

MONITORING NEEDED

Advocates for the elderly and disabled say such incidents underscore the need for careful monitoring of loved ones in nursing homes and health-care facilities.

"There is physical and psychological abuse in nursing homes," said Cynthia Rudder, director of special projects for Long Term Care Community Coalition, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that strives to improve care for the elderly and disabled. "It's not common, but it does happen."

In an unrelated case, a supervisor at the state-run Multiple Disabilities Unit in Ocean Breeze is accused of choking to death 27-year-old autistic patient Jawara Henry last Dec. 4 instead of properly restraining him.

Erik Stanley is charged with criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. He has pleaded not guilty and his case is pending in state Supreme Court, St. George.

According to the attorney general's office, the Lily Pond Nursing Home patient was a 40-year-old resident of the 35-bed facility who suffered from schizophrenia and depression and was developmentally disabled.

During an evening shift, an emergency medical technician saw certified nurse aide Cynthia Ferry strike the patient several times about the head, according to a Stapleton Criminal Court complaint filed by the office of Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

The EMT told nurse supervisor Josefina Bernabe that he observed Ms. Ferry hit the patient, said the attorney general. The EMT also said the patient raised his hands across his face to protect his head.

Ms. Bernabe told the EMT not to report the incident because she didn't want Ms. Ferry getting into trouble, the attorney general said.

The nurse didn't check the patient, nor did she file an incident report, as the law requires, authorities said.

The incident occurred on Feb. 2, 2009, the complaint said.

After a probe by the attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Ms. Ferry, 58, was charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violation of health laws.

She recently pleaded guilty to willful violation of public health laws and was sentenced to a conditional discharge, said a spokeswoman for Schneiderman. Ms. Ferry was ordered to surrender her certified nurse aide certificate and must also refrain from working in the health-care field, the spokeswoman said.

A telephone message left yesterday for Ms. Ferry was not immediately returned.

Ms. Bernabe was charged with falsifying business records and willful violation of health laws, the complaint said.

She pleaded guilty to the latter charge and also received a conditional discharge. She had to surrender her licensed practical nurse license and can't work in the health care field. Public records indicate she is in her late 50s.

Attempts yesterday to obtain a telephone listing for her were unsuccessful.

Ms. Bernabe's license had been suspended twice before, according to online records of the state Education Department, which licenses nurses.

In February 2004, she received a 24-month suspension, 23 months of which was stayed, two years' probation and was fined $250. That penalty was imposed after she admitted to failing to document a patient's fall and not having the patient treated, said Education Department records.

In September 2006, Ms. Bernabe's license was suspended for three months, with another 21 months stayed, those records show. She also was put on probation for three years and fined $750.

Ms. Bernabe admitted to administering the wrong dosage of Percocet, a painkiller, to a patient and trying to conceal her mistake, Education Department records state. She also failed to comply with the terms of her probation.

Ms. Rudder, the patient advocate, said families need to do their homework before placing a loved one in a nursing home or long-term care facility.

"It's very important, when you go into a nursing home, to speak to other residents and their family members," she said. "It's also important to see how staff is interacting with residents. You should look at the relationships."

In addition, families of potential residents should keep a close eye on whether and how staff helps patients who need assistance in eating, getting in and out of bed and performing other tasks, she said.